MPs demand emergency A&E expansion as 18,000 patients wait over 12 Hours at Epsom and St Helier

Liberal Democrat MPs are calling for an urgent expansion of St Helier Hospital’s Emergency Department after new NHS data revealed that 18,600 patients waited over 12 hours for treatment at Epsom and St Helier Hospitals in 2025.

The figures highlight a growing crisis with patients regularly being treated in corridors.

Despite the scale of the problem, plans to redevelop St Helier Hospital have been repeatedly delayed and are now not expected to start until the 2030s.

The MPs say an immediate expansion of A&E capacity is essential to bring an end to dangerous 12-hour waits. It would be funded by redirecting money from other NHS projects which have been delayed or cancelled, ensuring urgent improvements without additional cost to taxpayers.

Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington, Bobby Dean said: “St Helier’s A&E is at breaking point. Twelve-hour waits and corridor care have become routine. This crisis is a damning failure of the system and an experience no patient should have to endure.

"The Government must act now and fund an immediate expansion of A&E capacity. I am in regular contact with the hospital’s management team, and they are clear: this is their number one priority.”

Liberal Democrat MP for Sutton and Cheam, Luke Taylor said: "I'm sick to the back teeth of the government's inaction on the crumbling walls, dilapidated ceilings and patients being treated on trollies in corridors at St Helier.

“Anyone in their right mind can see that St Helier’s A&E department needs urgent investment to avoid an already bad situation sliding into a catastrophe. The staff who work so hard to deliver the best possible care need the government to have their backs, and the patients suffering deserve to see real change.

“We need this money now - and the new hospital building we were promised by the last government needs to be brought forward. The better part of a decade is far too long to wait.”